Center for Popular Democracy calls on Cuomo to reverse his position to send NYS Police into Long Island Public Schools

NEW YORK, NY -- In response to Governor Cuomo's announcement that he will be sending New York State Police officers into Long Island public schools, Kumar Rao, Senior Staff Attorney for Racial Justice at the Center for Popular Democracy released the following statement:

Sending in state troopers to criminalize school children will neither advance community safety or reduce gang violence. Instead, the presence of police in schools will lead directly and only to the suspension, criminalization, and destabilization of students of color. Immigrant students, in particular, will now face the strong threat of the Trump deportation machine during school hours, when they should instead be learning and thriving without fear. Governor Cuomo should be resourcing more counselors, social workers, and peer restorative justice practices in our schools, not armed state police.

We call on Governor Cuomo to reverse his position to send in state troopers into Long Island schools."

The Center for Popular Democracy promotes equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with innovative base-building organizations, organizing networks and alliances, and progressive unions across the country. CPD builds the strength and capacity of democratic organizations to envision and advance a pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial justice agenda.

CPD Impact

Nov 2016: During 2016, the Federal Reserve made an historic shift in how it makes the most important economic decisions in the country. For the first time they are taking into account low-income communities of color. For the past 100 years the Fed has been dominated by white, male, corporate executives who have cared little about building an economy that works for everyone.